In these gloomy times, as the Inland Empire endures the worst extremes of the national recession, cynics and naysayers and prophets of doom are to be found everywhere.

But then there are those irrepressible others.

The optimists.

We hear their voices, too. Listen to Wayne Austin, president and CEO of the San Bernardino Convention and Visitors Bureau and administrator of the California Welcome Center in San Bernardino:

“The Inland Empire has a destiny,” he says. “We’re the center of Southern California. We have the location, and we have the room to grow and expand. A whole new world is ramping up, and the Inland Empire is poised to become an international center for the exchange of goods, services, opportunities and ideas. It’s going to happen no matter what we do. It’s coming. There’s no way we can screw it up.”

The Inland Empire’s optimists are a steadfast legion, and their numbers include most, if not all, of the region’s leaders.

Jack Brown, chairman of the board and CEO of San Bernardino-based Stater Bros. Markets, says, “The future is very bright. At Stater Bros., we just had our biggest year, and we will continue to grow, because the Inland Empire will continue to grow. If you want to talk about location and access and quality of life, there is no place better than the Inland Empire.”

There’s no debate that the Inland Empire was riding high before the economic storm gathered force during the past year. We were booming, with record growth in almost all sectors, including housing, jobs and commercial development.

Our fall from that high place has been hard. But the region’s optimists have no doubt in their minds that we will rebound.

“If housing prices had not been driven to absurd levels by speculators and crazy financing, the Inland Empire would remain one of the strongest economies in the U.S.,” says economist John Husing of Redlands-based Economics and Politics Inc.

“The underlying fundamentals which have driven the area’s prosperity for the past three decades remain in place. The area has room to grow, a labor force wanting to work nearer their homes, and a growing number of workers with bachelor’s or graduate degrees. The area contains the passes through which all of the goods moving in and out of California, by rail or truck, must go. Once the housing difficulties are behind us, our long-term strengths will re-emerge.”

It’s possible, some optimists believe, that the current recession is a refining fire that will test us, toughen us and make us stronger. Our difficulties might even pay some surprising dividends.

Mark Nuaimi is mayor of Fontana, which last year opened a new library, a new civic center, a new theater and a new city park and recreation center. He says, “In Fontana, we survived the loss of Kaiser Steel, the housing slump of the early ’90s, the end to the Cold War and the loss of all those defense jobs, and continuous state take-aways, and we were still able to plan and build communities for families who weren’t happy with the L.A. scene. With that growth, many complained that infrastructure and facilities weren’t keeping up. Now, with the slowdown, we are able to construct regional infrastructure and deliver those projects for a lot less than they were being delivered just 18 months ago.”

Even the housing slump may be a blessing in disguise, Nuaimi says. “This reboot of our housing market will allow our kids to actually afford homes in our communities, so we can spoil our future grandkids.”

We all can learn from economic hardship, Nuaimi believes. “Every generation needs to see the impacts a recession has on our nation. It’s a humbling occurrence that hopefully refocuses us on what’s important – family, faith, community, and service.”

Elizabeth Hoppe, founding dean of the new College of Optometry at Western University of Health Sciences in Pomona, is another optimist who sees the region as being on the road to new possibilities.

“In any economic downturn, there are winners and losers,” she says. “Within the Inland Empire we have all of the tools to come out on top by forecasting which direction things are headed. We have the brain power and technology for green energy solutions, we have the commitment to expanded health-care services, and we have the innovative spirit of the pioneers who came before us. We can ride out these tough times by returning to our enduring strengths as a community.”

Pat Morris, mayor of San Bernardino, is more than mindful of the present-day challenges. “This is not a typical `peak-and-valley’ scenario,” he says. “This is the Grand Canyon.” But he also is more than confident that the Inland Empire will rise again with new strength. “We have 4 million people gathered here, and the sun shines every day. Those are wonderful assets to have. All we have to do is harness those assets correctly.”

David Stewart, dean of the A. Gary Anderson School of Management at UC Riverside, sees the recession as an open door rather than a closed door.

“The current economic slowdown provides an opportunity to plan the future,” he says.

Stewart, who shared his views in a recent talk to the Greater Riverside Chambers of Commerce, says, “It’s not financial Armageddon. The U.S. is not collapsing. The U.S. is in recession. It started in December 2007 and there has been significant deflation. Key industries are restructuring. But there is good news. Many firms are thriving. Gasoline prices are in steep decline, mortgage rates are down and refinancing is up.”

There’s good news in the Inland Empire, too, he says. “Housing sales are up significantly. The market is clearing. Southern California is growing, and it can only grow in one direction – inland. Inland Southern California is a hub of the global economy.”

There is general agreement among the region’s optimists that attitude will play a big role in our recovery, just as it has played a big role in our current funk. Whereas pessimism feeds the disease, optimism can spark the cure.

“When the elephant has its tusks in the air, that’s when people start paying attention,” says Brown, the Stater Bros. chief. “Let’s not be docile. Let’s not stand around with our heads hanging down and our trunks swinging back and forth. Let’s throw those tusks up, and get out there and get things done.”

Similar words come from Austin, the San Bernardino Convention and Visitors Bureau chief. “It’s easy to say the sky is falling, but that’s just disheartening,” he says. “We need to take the tribal view of ourselves. We’ve been here a thousand years and we’re going to be here a thousand years from now. We just need to take hold of our destiny. We need to clean house, then clean the block, and then the next block, and keep paying it forward until it becomes a perpetual motion machine. Let’s try new ideas. If they don’t work, let’s try different ideas. But let’s try, and let’s try now.”

Austin may be the Inland Empire’s No. 1 optimist. After all, it’s his job. When a group of French business students from Paris spent a portion of last summer in the Inland Empire, as part of a student exchange program at Cal State San Bernardino, it was Austin who served as their host on a series of day trips to explore the region.

“On the first day, we visited the campuses and arts community in Claremont and the booming business and shopping centers in Ontario,” he says. “Our second trip was to Big Bear Lake, where we went on the excursion boat and had lunch in the village, and then we drove over to Lake Arrowhead. On the third day, we went to the desert and saw the spas and resorts there, had lunch, then golfed at La Quinta. Finally, on the fourth day, we went to Temecula, where we toured the wine country and sampled the wines.”

The business students were impressed. “By the time we were done,” Austin says, “they were just going, `Wow!’ Their eyes were bugging out. These are people who live in Paris, but they were ready to buy houses here.”

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